Myria stood completely undeterred.

"I expected the ’Tyrant’ to surround himself with something more... refined. But you are nothing but a pet that has forgotten its place."

​Noir’s lips curved dangerously.

"A pet? I am his shadow, his blade, and his heartbeat. And unlike you, who trades away her own history to the merchant just to fish for scraps, I know exactly what I am worth."

​The surrounding Beyonders went deathly quiet.

Even the arrogant mercenaries who had been mocking Neo moments ago suddenly found their voices stuck in their throats. The energy radiating from the two women was so volatile that the golden threads of the Celestial River began to churn violently nearby.

​Neo stepped forward, and placed a firm hand on Noir’s shoulder.

​"Noir, stand down. This is not the place for a brawl," he said gently.

​Noir’s instincts were screaming at her to tear the Ice Princess apart, but she obeyed, slinking back to Neo’s side while shooting one final venomous glare at Myria.

​Meanwhile, Neo turned his attention to the old merchant, who was watching the drama unfold with a bemused toothless grin.

He tossed a heavy, pulsating S-grade Mana crystal onto the counter, and began to looked at the menu lying nearby.

After thoroughly reading it, Neo said,

​"Merchant, The ’Moon-Thread’ pole is a distraction for those who seek to lose their past. What does it cost for the ’Void-Caller’ rod? The one that doesn’t just catch fish, but the currents themselves."

​The merchant’s grin faded, and the crowd let out a collective gasp.

The old merchant stated,

​"The Void-Caller? Haha, that is not a tool for a mortal, boy. It requires a price that even the Gods fear to pay: the sacrifice of your own future glory."

​Myria, who had been listening intently, suddenly found her composure breaking.

​"Neo, don’t. You don’t understand what that rod does. It doesn’t just catch fish, it unbinds the soul. If you touch it, you won’t just be late for your destiny, you will cease to exist entirely," She blurted out.

​Neo looked at her, saying:

​"Myria, you always were afraid of the dark. But you forgot... I am the dark."

The words rang out like a thunderclap to her ears.

​"I will take it, Merchant."

​"Well, I warned you. If you are unlucky, you will get nothing."

​Neo nodded.

​"But there is a chance I can get something that will easily make up for my losses, right?"

​The old merchant chuckled, "Yes. If you are extremely lucky, that is."

​"Luck favors the brave," Neo added.

​After that, Neo was given the "Void-Caller" fishing rod.

​It was completely dark in color, and its line was thinner than a hair. However, it was extremely lethal, made of pure cosmic essence.

​Seeing him so daring, Myria pulled out her family’s "Moon Crown" to trade it for the "Moon-Thread" pole, just as she had intended.

​Zestia and Noir traded their Universal Credits to get a fishing rod of their own.

​After that, the real fishing began.

The banks of the Celestial Fishing River quickly became lively with thousands of Beyonders from across the cosmos taking their positions along the glowing pink and violet nebulae.

Swoosh, swoosh, swish...

With excitement bubbling inside their chest, they cast their fishing lines into the torrential flow of liquefied starlight.

​It did not take long for the river to demonstrate its incredibly volatile nature.

​"Hell yeah. I got something!" a towering beast-kin warrior roared.

When he pulled out, a fist size gemstone dropped on the starlight river bed.

​"God! It is a Fragment of the Earth Shattering Law! He actually pulled out a Supreme Law fragment!" gasped a nearby sorcerer.

"Ha ha ha ha.."

​The beast-kin laughed triumphantly.

But the joy was short lived.

A few feet away, a greedy mercenary threw his heavily enchanted hook far into the deep, turbulent currents, ignoring the merchant’s earlier warnings.

The moment his hook sank, the golden water turned a terrifying shade of crimson.

​"Help! It is pulling me in!" the mercenary screamed in terror.

​"Let go of the rod, you fool!" another Beyonder yelled.

​Alas, It was too late.

Gulp!

He was swalloed by a massive leviathan of crackling blue lightning.

The man did not even have time to scream.

Inside, his body underwent immediate atomic disintegration upon touching the cosmic water.

"Fu*k!"

"That’s Awful!"

The terrifying display forced the surrounding crowds to step back in unison, swallowing hard.

The Celestial River was a place of supreme fortune, but it demanded absolute respect.

​Away from the noisy, frantic crowds, Princess Myria found a quiet enclave surrounded by giant, crystalline lotus flowers.

As soon as she stepped to the water’s edge, the temperature plummeted.

And then the surprising thing happened. The fast-flowing liquid starlight actually slowed down, freezing into beautiful, golden slush beneath her silver boots.

​She gripped the Moon-Thread pole tightly in her pale hands. The handle was cold and smooth.

She had traded her family’s precious Moon Crown for this very tool, refusing to surrender her cherished memories to the mysterious merchant.

Her memories of the man she once knew, no matter how bitter or painful they were now, belonged entirely to her.

​With a graceful, sweeping motion, Myria cast her line.

The glowing, silver thread sliced silently through the vacuum of space and entered the golden river without making a single ripple.

​She closed her luminous eyes, extending her Absolute Zero domain straight down the thin line. She bypassed the loud, flashy treasures swimming near the surface. She did not want Supreme Laws or divine weapons. She sought the forbidden currents of time itself.

​Minutes passed in absolute, freezing silence. Suddenly, the Moon-Thread pole jerked violently.

​Myria opened her eyes, and pulled upward with practiced elegance.

When it came out, at the end of her line hung a beautiful translucent silver koi fish that seemed to be swimming through the air.

​As soon as the fish crossed into her icy domain, it instantly shattered into a million sparkling ice crystals.

Those crystals then rapidly condensed, and formed a beautifully ornate frost-covered scroll.

​"The Chronicle of the Frozen Aeon. Just as the royal seers predicted." she murmured.

​